Announcing Liberation Week

Update: That went fast! We blew threw 1,776 liberation kits as fast as a gaggle of kids with a box of sparklers. But there are a lot more people that need liberating! So we've dropped the price on our remaining stock of Liberation Kits to $0 + shipping.

Although you may want to open your damaged iPhone—maybe to replace the display, dry out water-damage, or replace a battery—you realize you can’t. Your tools won’t open up the odd five-pointed screws holding the device together. You are locked out of your own phone.

iFixit doesn’t like this. In fact, we’re completely against it. Since you’ve bought your phone, you should be able to fix it easily, quickly, and affordably. But unless you have the proper tools, these five-pointed screws—better known as pentalobe screws—won’t allow you access to your own device. Instead, you’ll likely go back to Apple, putting down even more money, because they are the only ones who have the ability to open your iPhone. And although we are big fans of Apple’s consistently beautiful product designs, we’re not fans of iPhone imprisonment.

If you sign up during this five-day window, we will give you two iPhone Liberation Kits. With your choice to liberate any combination of iPhone 4, 4S, or 5, these kits are equipped with two Phillips 3.6 mm screws, a 2.5” Phillips Driver, and a 2.5” Pentalobe Driver.

But why two iPhone Liberation Kits? In true iFixit fashion, we don’t think that freedom should be contained—it should be spread. So when you sign up, you will be gifted a kit for yourself and a kit to pass on to a friend. We are enabling you and your comrade during this fight for freedom!

Let's be honest, giving away free tools doesn’t happen often, but we know that this fight is important for many reasons.

First, pentalobe screws lock you out, preventing iPhone restoration and preservation. So you’ll likely be forced to trash your iPhone in the near future—having to buy an expensive phone all over again. No longer. We want you to buy your device and keep it for as long as possible. Second, on a much larger scale, stopping planned obsolescence in this campaign helps our country’s environment, other countries’ environments, supports you as a consumer, gives you a free lifetime warranty, and sends a message that you aren’t restricted to poor product designs.

We’d like to think that we are spreading freedom without bombs—we are spreading it with tools.

So join us and be one of 1,776 freedom fighters who will be gifted two iPhone Liberation Kits. That way, the next time your iPhone display shatters or falls into water, you won't worry. You’ll have been liberated.